It appears a new grant fund worth US$1m has been created to fund Bitcoin protocol development. Although this news leaked a few days ago, there was a lot of confusion as to who is participating in this grant. That list has now been made available, and it contains some names few people would come to expect.

US$1m Grant For Bitcoin Protocol Development

If there is one thing most Bitcoin enthusiasts will agree upon, it is how future protocol development will require funding. Developers are working on the bitcoin ecosystem around the clock, and their time needs to be rewarded. Moreover, creating an official fund grant gives Bitcoin a more legal appeal in the eyes of mainstream users.

But there is more to the official Bitcoin fund grant than meets the eye. Contrary to what some people may expect, there will be no “go-to Bitcoin development solution”. This means the grant will be used for Bitcoin Core, Unlimited, and any other branch of development that is viable. Competition among developers will create new solutions previously never thought of.

The diversity of innovation seems the main selling point of this decision. Since Bitcoin has no leader, it makes sense to open this fund to anyone who wants to shape the future of the Bitcoin protocol. More importantly, censorship will be a thing of the past. Any disagreements can be settled in a mature environment, which is the way things should have been solved in the first place.

Finding common ground is what Bitcoin needs right now. Several issues have been hurting the growth of cryptocurrency for far too long. With a new fund grant spanning different developmental efforts, the future of Bitcoin looks brighter than ever. That is, assuming all involved parties can adhere to their set of guidelines.

What is rather intriguing is the list of companies who have contributed to this project. Both Bitcoin.com and BitMain are active contributors to this Bitcoin development grant. More importantly, the initiative is supported by some of the largest Bitcoin companies, platforms, and services active in cryptocurrency today. One company noticeably absent on this list is BitPay, the world’s largest cryptocurrency payment processor.

All in all, the Bitcoin development fund grant is a welcome change. It is now up to individual developers, as well as Bitcoin community members, to ensure the future of this protocol will be a positive one. A long road is still ahead for Bitcoin, but with a US$1m fund grant, things are slowly falling into place to leave this troubled year behind us.

JP is a freelance copywriter and SEO writer who is passionate about various topics. The majority of his work focuses on Bitcoin, blockchain, and financial technology. He is contributing to major news sites all over the world, including NewsBTC, The Merkle, Samsung Insights, and TransferGo.